Trans-Pacific Partnership
PRESIDENT OBAMA’S APPROACH TO
ASIA-PACIFIC
Betsy Barrientos
March 5, 2012
Agenda
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 TPP Overview
 TPP Components
 President Obama’s Approach
 U.S. National Interests

Commonwealth of Virginia
 Potential Impediments to the Agreement
 Policy Analysis
 Q&A
Overview
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TPP Origins
 Into force in 2006
 Trade liberalization in the Asia Pacific Region
 Original signatories: Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and
Singapore
Overview
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Original
 Brunei, Chile, Singapore,
NZ
In Negotiation
 Australia, Malaysia,
Peru, Vietnam, USA
Potential Members
 Canada, Japan, Mexico
Overview
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 Notably missing:
China
Overview
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 Geographically diverse
 Comprehensive trade agreement
 Elimination of all tariffs among all countries by 2017
(99% with Brunei)
 Negative list for Services and Investments - unless
specifically mentioned, a category is assumed to be
covered by the agreement
Overview
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Includes:
 sanitary and phytosanitary standards
 technical barriers to trade
 competition policy
 IPR
 government procurement
 environmental and labor standards
President Obama’s Approach
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 “America’s first Pacific President”
- November 2009
 “... the Asia Pacific region is key to achieving my goal
of doubling U.S. exports and creating new jobs."
- November 2011
 Increase engagement in all aspects of its relations
with countries in the region
President Obama’s Approach
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 Strategic alliances with
Philippines and Australia
 Clinton’s visit to Myanmar
 Conditional food aid to
North Korea
 President Obama’s 10-day
trip to Asia
 TPP main trade objective of
the Administration
TPP Agreement:
U.S. Policy Objectives and Interests
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 Expand and increase trade
 Shape economic interactions in the region
 Positive engagement and commitment to Asia
 Catalyst for other Asian Pacific countries to join the
TPP agreement
 Trans-Pacific integration vs. intra-Asian integration
Specific Areas of U.S. National Interests
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Agriculture
 increase regulatory coherence, eliminate redundancies in
testing and certification of food and animal and plant health
Manufacturing
 linkages to supply chains across the region
Intellectual Property Rights
 Follow TRIPS; trademarks, copyrights, patents, trade secrets,
etc
Green growth and e-commerce
 illegal subsidies to fisheries, illegal wildlife trade
 taxing of electronic transactions, authentication of online
transactions, consumer protection
Concerns for the Commonwealth of Virginia
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Tobacco
 leaf and products not included as part of
the agreement
 no protection or incentives for this sector
 industry might be at a disadvantage as it has limited
access to a global market
Risks
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 Regional agreement undermines WTO and Doha
Round
 Trade diversion: lower tariffs of an agreement causes
trade to be diverted away from a more efficient
producer outside the bloc
 “Spaghetti bowl” effect: overlapping and inconsistent
FTAs
Impediments
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Potential Impediments
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Agriculture
 New Zealand’s dairy products could have improved
access to US market
 Japan’s politics and government policies relating to
agriculture (rice).
Potential Impediments - Con’t
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Intellectual Property
 Inconsistent policies among countries
 Copyright and patent terms that adhere to US
standards, e.g. endless copyright terms
 Strong emphasis on pharma and multi-media
 Elimination of parallel trade on copyrighted
materials
Potential Impediments - Con’t
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Access to Medicine
 Seize shipments of drugs on suspicion on IP
infringement and to increase damages from IP
infringement
 Increase of data exclusivity - prevents existing clinical
trial data to be shared with makers of generic drugs
 Increase of duration patent terms - could delay
competition of generic brands
 Access to affordable medicine for developing countries
 Schemes of subsidized medicine in New Zealand
TPP: Policy Analysis
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 FTAs already signed with most TPP countries; trade
barriers low
 Market size of countries small, if considered
individually
 Is the TPP an economic agreement?
 Yes, for the most part… it has the potential to be much more
TPP: Policy Analysis
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 As an economic agreement, TPP could raise
standards for market access and bridge differences
between American and Asian regions
 Potential to represent about 40% of total global trade
AND
 Establish a new framework for future FTAs
 Enable “presence” in the region and thus influence
economic and strategic initiatives
TPP: Policy Analysis
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Intellectual Property
 TRIPS+ may not be suitable for all TPP countries
 Undermine alternative IP standards
 Potential to negatively affect health sector in some
countries
TPP: Policy Analysis
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 As an alternative, US could update IP and copyright
laws and engage in patent reforms

IP and copyright laws set in the 1970s
 Guidance and consultation from additional
industries, other than pharmaceutical and recorded
media.
TPP: Policy Analysis
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Also consider the challenges of the following:
 President Obama may seek trade promotion
authority (TPA)
 For Asia, TPP is not the only option to increase trade
 ASEAN +3, bilateral agreements
 If TPP agreement fails, U.S. could see its position
weakened in the region
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QUESTIONS?